When the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine, how we maintain our energy security and industrial competitiveness whilst decarbonising our economy is the defining question for Britain’s energy system today.  

No single technology will provide the answer on its own, but one solution is hydrogen. The home-grown alternative to natural gas will provide flexible, low-carbon energy for power generation and industrial decarbonisation, while also serving as a feedstock for products such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and ammonia needed to produce fertilizers. A significant benefit of this gas is that domestic production in Britain can help enhance energy security and strengthen our energy supply.

Britain's hydrogen economy is taking shape, with production and industrial demand emerging across our industrial clusters. Yet without the infrastructure to connect production, storage and demand, individual projects risk falling short of their collective potential and limiting the growth of the sector at scale.

Project Union is National Gas’ vision for Britain’s national hydrogen network to connect hydrogen projects across the nation’s industrial clusters. As the existing Gas System Operator (GSO), we’re ready to leverage our expertise and infrastructure in transporting gas to deliver the infrastructure needed for Britain’s hydrogen economy.  

We’re taking a phased approach, prioritising developing regional hydrogen networks and clusters to power industry, drive economic growth, and strengthen Britain’s energy security. Work has already begun on the first phase of the network, Project Union on the East Coast of England will connect major industrial clusters, from Teesside to the Humber, and down to the East Midlands.  

As these clusters and regional networks develop, longer-term they have the potential to connect and form a national hydrogen network.

Without this connectivity, Britain risks investing in hydrogen production and demand that remain constrained by geography, rather than integrated into a market capable of delivering energy security, decarbonisation and economic growth at scale.

Recent analysis by AFRY, commissioned by the National Energy System Operator (NESO), reinforces the strategic case for a national hydrogen network. Its conclusions are consistent with recommendation from the Climate Change Committee, the Second National Infrastructure Assessment and the Government’s Hydrogen Transport and Storage Networks Pathway.  

A national hydrogen network would make better use of the renewable energy Britain already generates and pave the way for more renewable power.  

Rather than curtailing excess wind and solar power when supply exceeds demand, surplus renewable power can be converted into hydrogen and transported from renewable energy-rich regions to industrial areas that need reliable, low-carbon fuel. This can ease pressure on the electricity grid, reduce future electricity network investment requirements and lower renewable curtailment costs.

Importantly, hydrogen can be stored in large volumes, for long periods of time, and deployed when it’s needed to meet peaks in demand, like natural gas today, reducing the need for long-term electricity storage and provide flexibility to the wider energy system.

With recent analysis from the National Audit Office highlighting rising costs associated with electricity system balancing and curtailment, hydrogen infrastructure can offer an alternative whole-system solution to lower carbon emissions, waste less renewable energy and provide a more resilient energy system.  

Taken together, the benefits of a national hydrogen network could deliver substantial savings for consumers while reducing the overall cost of the energy transition and unlocking even more renewable power.  

We are now entering the advanced engineering design phase for the second stage of Project Union, connecting Teesside to St Fergus in northeast Scotland. This strategic corridor will link Scotland's abundant renewable energy resources with major industrial centres in Scotland and the north-east of England. With Scotland's vast offshore wind potential expected to generate significant volumes of low-carbon electricity, Project Union can unlock the full value of this resource by enabling hydrogen production and transportation at scale.

As Britain moves from hydrogen ambition to hydrogen delivery, we must shift from thinking about individual projects to thinking about systems. Energy transitions are not delivered project by project. They are delivered by the infrastructure that connects production, storage and demand. Just as Britain's natural gas economy relies on a national transmission network, a successful hydrogen economy will depend on infrastructure that enables hydrogen to move where it is needed.

The real value of a national hydrogen network is not measured in miles of pipeline. It is measured in the industries it sustains, the investment it unlocks in new industries, the jobs it secures, the emissions it avoids and the energy security it delivers.